What you need to know
- Apple says developers have earned more than $260 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.
- Apple Pay expanded to nine new markets in 2021 alone.
- Apple TV+ has been honored with 763 nominations and 190 wins in its first two years.
There is little denying that Apple now sees its services as the next big thing, perhaps replacing iPhone as its primary focus for the first time in 15 years. It has a lot of them too, with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and the App Store being just a few. Now, Apple has published a Newsroom post to make sure we all know just how well those services are doing.
The lengthy post touches on almost all of Apple's services, starting out Apple Fitness+ and the way it "coached users to stretch, lift, lunge, and meditate their way to healthier days" during 2021. Apple recently announced new Fitness+ feature additions, too.
Moving on, Apple tells us that it has helped developers sell "digital goods and services earning more than $260 billion since the App Store launched in 2008." Apple also says that "App Store customers spent more than ever before between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, driving double-digit growth from last year."
Apple Arcade gets a mention, with Apple pointing to the more than 200 games that iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV owners can enjoy as part of the flat $4.99 per month subscription. Throw in the Family Sharing aspect and that could be some of the best value in gaming right now.
Apple notes that 2021 "was a year of innovation for Apple Music", too.
Apple Music offers listeners one of the largest music catalogs ever, now featuring over 90 million songs all available in lossless audio, so that fans can hear music the way artists created it. Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and support for dynamic head tracking have ushered in the next generation of sound, providing artists the ability to deliver immersive audio experiences with exceptional clarity, while bringing listeners deeper into their all-time and new favorite songs.
Arguably the biggest hit has been Apple TV+, a service that can thank Ted Lasso among other shows, movies, and documentaries for becoming one of the biggest players in down — especially during awards season. Apple reminds us that "Apple TV+ has been honored with 763 award nominations and 190 wins" in its first two years, making history as it goes.
Apple News+ gets a mention, as does Apple Podcasts and even the Apple TV 4K hardware refresh gets some love, too.
Perhaps predictably, the service that ties all of this together gets a shoutout. Apple One brings all of Apple's services under one roof and can even save you money depending on what services you already pay for. Apple One Premier is available in 20 countries right now, with a further 17 coming online in 2022, Apple says.
There's a lot more, too. Apple Pay found its way into nine new countries last year, while the Wallet app continues to prove useful for those wanting to save digital versions of their COVID-19 passes and a whole lot more. In fact, Apple says that customers used 30 million NFC tickets via the Wallet app in events in the United States and Canada.
You can read the full Newsroom post if you're interested in seeing exactly what Apple is so pleased about, too.
